Holiday in Connemara - west coast of Ireland

To west of Galway and reaching out into the Atlantic is the area of Connemara, and no area quite evokes the true spirit of Irishness as this wild, remote, alluring country. In the centre rise the peaks of the Twelve Bens and the Maumturk mountains clawing their way out of the peat bogs, themselves riddled with lakes, and giant granite boulders, the coast carved by the sea into a series if inlets and coves, and littered with tiny islands. There is only one town to speak of in the whole area, Clifden. This is a lively port and bayside resort, and is an ideal place to stay and soak up the atmosphere of this harsh, but beautiful, region. Eking out a living in Connemara has never been easy as the land is either rock or bog, the sea inhospitable, and the geographical isolation of the area has meant hardship and poverty for the inhabitants until relatively recently. If you compliment the locals on the beauty of the landscape you could be stunned with the often-used reply, 'You can't eat the scenery'. Well, strangely enough, it seems that the influx of tourists and their wallets has meant money coming into Connemara like never before. This is not so much the coachloads on a day-trip, but a constant stream of independent visitors coming to rent a cottage in Connemara, stroll along the white sandy beaches, wander along mountain paths, walk through tiny towns, and drink in the atmosphere in the musical bars. Near Gortmore stands Padraic Pearse's cottage, a peasant cottage with whitewashed walls and a thatched roof, and it was to this place that the Dublin schoolmaster would bring his students to imbue them with Irish culture and language. The backdrop of Connemara inspired him, and he went on to be the proclaimer of the fledgling Republic from the steps of the General Post Office in Dublin during the Easter Rising of 1916, and was assured immortality when he was executed for treason only a few days later.

In the next place along the coast, Roundstone, lives and works the master bodhran maker, Malachy Kearns. Musicians from all over the world who play traditional Irish music trust him to make the goatskin drum that provides the beat behind the jigs that set all feet tapping, and with the success of Riverdance, this style of music has never been more popular. Further west, and still skirting the bogs, and approaching Clifden you pass the memorial to Allcock and Brown who 'landed' their Vickers Vimy in Derrygimlagh bog, nose-down. A somewhat ignominious end to the first ever non-stop transatlantic flight.

The town of Clifden is home to the Connemara Pony Show every August. These ponies epitomize the spirit of the local populous, being sturdy, durable, and much prized. They were bred for hard work in the boglands, and every year they are gathered here to be judged, and or sold, and the people of west Galway arrive in festive mood, in a wonderful setting with the sea on one side, and the looming backdrop of the Twelve Bens, on the other. This bustling market town is a perfect place to use as a base to explore the Connemara National Park, with its mountains and bogs, glittering peaks, and isolated loughs. There is a choice of holiday cottages in Clifden to rent - from rental houses in the centre of the town to luxury accommodation in traditional Connemara cottages. A self-catering cottage gives you the freedom to explore the west of Ireland. To the north of the park is the great pile of Kylemore Abbey, a Victorian mock-Tudor house, built by Mitchell Henry, and now occupied by Benedictine nuns. The Abbey is now home to an international school for girls, and has an impressive walled garden, surrounded by half a mile of stone, and a windbreak of 30,000 trees.

Coming out of Connemara, and skirting Lough Corrib, the eastern, low-lying, region of Galway is ignored, in the main, by tourists intent on immersing themselves in the drama of the west coast. The area is dotted with Cathedrals and Abbeys each with its own charm and individuality. This is farming country and the money generated from that industry enabled the locals to indulge their religious fervor in the construction and decoration of these buildings. There are lots of holiday cottages to rent on farms in this part of Galway as well as bed and breakfast in Irish farmhouses. Athenry, with its lyrically inspiring fields, is an old Norman town and remains of their occupation still are visible to this day. There are sections of the defensive walls built in 1211, the ruins of a 13th century Dominican friary, and the Norman castle keep. On the border with County Roscommon, in the Suck valley, the town of Ballinasloe plays host each year to one of the oldest gatherings in the region, the Ballinasloe Horse Fair, which attracts over 100,000 visitors from all over the world every year. The town was originally established as a meeting place for the tribesmen, warriors, and chiefs of the Kingdom of Connacht. The success of the Tench family, later Earls of Clancarty, in backing the right side at the Battle of Aughrim ensured the area largely withstood the ravages of the famine. Since then it has expanded and prospered and is now the second largest town in the county, and is considered to be the gateway to the west being on the main road from Dublin to Galway, and so a popular place for tourists to take a break.

In the south of Galway is the tower house of Ballylee Castle, re-named Thoor Ballylee by W.B.Yeats in 1916 after he had bought it for the princely sum of 35 pounds. He restored it, simply and stylishly, and it became his much-loved country retreat, and inspired his 1928 collection, The Tower, and The Winding Stair. The house now has a collection of Yeats memorabilia and a collection of first editions, and they play recordings of him reading his own verse as you go round the exhibition. Closely at Coole Park, near Gort, lived Yeats? patron and friend, Lady Augusta Gregory. Although the house no longer exists, the beautiful gardens remain and you can see the Autograph Tree, into which literary luminaries, such as Shaw and John Masefield, were encouraged to carve their names.

Irish tourist information

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